Product Description
The Orange Box-
Team Fortress 2 PC
Product
Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1187 in Video Games
- Brand:
Electronic Arts
- Model: 9869
- Released on: 2008-04-08
- ESRB Rating: Mature
- Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 2000,
Windows XP
- Format: DVD-ROM
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions:
.53" h x 5.75" w x 7.75" l, .25 pounds
Features
- Nine
unique character classes, each providing a completely unique play
experience for players of varying skills.
- Advanced graphics
that offers a unique game environment while providing game information
within the visuals.
- Support for up to 24 players.
- Introduces
new multiplayer game modes and support for voice chat.
- Automatic
updates – Stop wasting time looking for patches or new content.
Editorial
Reviews
Amazon.com
Team
Fortress 2 (
TF2) is the sequel to the game that put
class-based, multiplayer team warfare on the map. A long time coming,
TF2
was first announced in 1998, but in the years that followed went
through various concept and design changes, which left it looking less
and less like the beloved original release. Luckily by the time the
final version came off the presses and was bundled as part of EA’s 2007
release,
The Orange Box, it had returned to something very close
to the original game.
Meet the full team.
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Heavy dropping a few
shells.
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Pyro bringing the heat.
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Scout catching some
air.
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Gameplay
Built
around multiplayer battles of two teams, Reliable Excavation Demolition
(RED) and Builders League United (BLU), representing competing
construction teams, players choose between two game modes: capture the
flag (CTF) and a control point mode. In CTF the objective is to obtain a
briefcase of intelligence from the enemy team's base and return it to
their own base while preventing the opposing team from doing the same.
In the control point mode the objective is similar, only related to
holding particular territories. To be successful in either the most
important thing is to understand and use each character class in the
best way possible.
A Game That's a Class Operation
Unlike
other "class-based" games that offer a variety of combat classes only,
Team
Fortress 2 features a wide variety of classes which provide a broad
range of tactical abilities and personalities, and lend themselves to a
variety of player skills. All nine playable character classes from the
original game are available and although a few of these, like the Medic
and Heavy generally work well with any mix of characters, overall each
have particular strengths in offensive, defensive and support
capacities. Each also will respond dynamically with different comical
dialogue when in combat.
The full character classes include:
- Pyro
- An offensive class with average damage tolerance, Pyros are armed
with a flamethrower, shotgun and a fire axe.
- Engineer - A
defensive class with a low threshold for damage, Engineers can upgrade
weapons and equipment and are armed with a shotgun, a pistol and a
wrench.
- Spy - Used for sabotage the Spy carries a
revolver, a butterfly knife, an electronic zapper and a diguise kit.
- Heavy
- Tough on offense and defense the Heavy's weapons are the minigun, the
shotgun and his fists.
- Sniper - A support class with low
damage tolerance, the Sniper is armed with a sniper rifle, a submachine
gun and a machete.
- Scout - The Scout is fast but
susceptible to damage. His weapons are a sawed off shotgun, a pistol and
a baseball bat.
- Soldier - A slow, but a powerful
offensive class, the soldier wields a rocket launcher, a shotgun and a
spade.
- Demoman - A defense class with an average amount
of protection, the Demoman is armed with a remotely detonated sticky
bomb and a bottle of Scotch.
- Medic - Medics keep other
characters alive and are armed with a healing 'medigun,' a
syringe-firing launcher and a bone saw.
The importance of the
abilities of particular classes aside, far and away the dominant factor
in
Team Fortress 2 and the secret to its popularity, is its clear
dedication to fun. This is seen in its rejection of realism in favor of
cartoon-style art in the game's graphics, the inclusion of super
weapons like lasers and missile launchers hidden within the six standard
maps and the attention given to each character's incidental trash
talking functionality. Combined, these simply make for fast-paced,
over-the-top fun which are the building blocks of any multiplayer
shooter.
System Requirements:
|
| Minimum
Specifications: | Recommended
Specifications: |
| OS: | Windows Vista/XP/2000 |
| Processor: | 1.7 Ghz Processor | Pentium 4
Processor (3.0 Ghz or better) |
| RAM: | 512 MB RAM | 1 GB RAM |
| Video
Card: | DirectX 8 level Graphics card | DirectX 9 level Graphics card |
| Other: | DVD-ROM Drive/Mouse/Keyboard/Internet
Connection |
Customer Reviews
Incredibly unique, and very polished
One thing the first-person
shooter genre has been tending towards in the last few years is an
emphasis on gritty, realistic (or at least semi-realistic) gunplay. This
is not a universally-loved proposition. Take a look at two screenshots
from two different shooters, and chances are that if you aren't already
an avid fan of the genre, you will not be able to tell them apart. The
status quo is rather displeasing - but who better to shake it up than
Valve Software, who have already revitalized the genre twice with the
1998 hit Half-Life and its 2004 sequel? Their effort to this end is Team
Fortress 2, and what a terrific game it is.
In spite of its
title, Team Fortress 2 is in fact the third iteration in the Team
Fortress series, which is known for being the first class-based
multiplayer first-person shooter. When it was announced way back in
1999, Team Fortress 2 was supposed to have a highly realistic art
direction, but along the way that decision was dropped in favour of a
highly stylized art direction. The result is that TF2 looks like no
other first person shooter on the market today. Valve has used some
clever shading techniques to make both the characters and environments
look like cartoon characters, with exaggerated anatomy, bright colours
and incredible facial animation.
The audio is similarly inspired.
While weapon and impact noises are as good as you would expect them to
be, what really shines is the speech and music. The game has a
consistent musical theme, and jingles that wouldn't sound out of place
in a '60s spy thriller play at the start and end of each round. The
characters themselves emote with gusto. Each character has three
different unique taunts, and several context-sensitive voice clips that
can be triggered at the push of a key. While they fulfil the obvious
need for a way of communicating with your teammates, they also help to
create what is perhaps the first multiplayer shooter in a long time with
actual personality. Whether it's the Demoman's angry Scottish rants,
the Medic's odd battle cry of "OKTOBERFEST!" or the Pyro's incoherent
muffled yelling, the characters' oddball personalities really grow on
you.
Aesthetics aren't everything, so it's a good thing that
Valve is on the ball when it comes to gameplay as well. As noted earlier
in this review, Team Fortress 2 is primarily a multiplayer game, much
like Unreal Tournament and its ilk. Unlike those games, though, the
focus here is on teams of players competing against each other to
complete specific objectives on a variety of maps. These objectives can
include stealing intelligence from the enemy team's base (this game's
version of Capture The Flag) or capturing all the control points on a
given map. There are several variations on the latter game type, each of
which has its own subtleties. The most interesting game type is
territorial control, which plays out as a series of smaller battles in a
larger battle to control all the areas on a map. There's a lot of
variety to be had here; the only possible complaint is that the game
ships with only six multiplayer maps from the get-go (with two more
available as free downloadable content), but this being a first-person
shooter on the PC, there are already numerous high-quality user-made
maps making the rounds, thanks to the free Source SDK and Hammer map
editor released by Valve.
TF2 wouldn't be much of a Team Fortress
game without its classes, and while each of the classes from TFC has
made a return, they've all been changed quite drastically. Where TFC had
more homogeneity with its classes (particularly with regard to weapon
and grenade use) TF2 goes in the opposite direction, offering nine
distinct classes with decidedly unique abilities. For instance, the
Scout has low hit points, but is the fastest of all the classes, making
him the ideal intelligence carrier or point capturer. On the other hand,
the Heavy is slow, but can take significant punishment and deal out
massive damage with his minigun, and is thus suited for major offensive
pushes. The Medic is primarily a support class with poor offensive
abilities, but he can also impart a ten-second invulnerability charge at
intervals that can really serve to turn the tide of the match in his
team's favour. And then there's the calculating, cerebral experience
that is the Spy class. No two classes can really be played alike,
assuring that even if you manage to master one class, the others are
waiting to offer you a completely different gameplay experience every
time you log on.
TF2 also implements some interesting features
that may be a first for a first-person shooter. In an attempt to get
people to keep playing, the game keeps track of your statistics for each
round. If a certain player kills you several times, that player is
marked out as your nemesis, and you get bonus points for getting revenge
on him. Similarly you can dominate players on the other team by killing
them repeatedly. In addition, the game uses these stats to reinforce
the sense that you're getting better as you play, pointing out little
achievements from the previous round, like new records for maximum kills
in a single spawn, time spent alive and so on. It's a nice trick to
keep players interested in their own progress and keep them playing.
However, the most curious of the new features is the critical hit system
- critical hits are randomly awarded to players on each team, and the
chance of getting a critical hit depends on various factors, such as how
well you're playing or what weapon you're using. It's an interesting
twist, one not usually seen in FPSes, and it's rare enough not to be
gamebreaking.
As far as the multiplayer experience goes, TF2 is
the first game to benefit from the enhancements to Valve's Steam content
delivery service. This means the inclusion of things like achievements,
a unified friends list that lets you join your friends' games with a
single click, stat tracking and a robust server browser. The multiplayer
experience is of a very high standard, and the game is eminently
playable even when your ping starts to scrape the low 200s. Full in-game
voice chat support is also included, and is crucial if you want to work
effectively with your team to win games. The robustness of the online
service ensures that more often than not, your TF2 experience will be
unhindered by network hiccups.
All in all, Team Fortress 2 is a
great multiplayer first-person shooter that will be fondly remembered by
many for years to come. It's rare that a game with such a long
development cycle turns out to be such a well-polished and high quality
affair, so players would do well to savour what this game has to offer.
Personality, gameplay, balance - TF2 has it all, and is a must-play for
any fan of the genre (and maybe even for those who aren't).
NB:
I've reviewed the PC version here. As a personal note, I strongly
recommend that anyone with an interest in this title pick up the PC
version, either through Steam, by purchasing the Orange Box, or the new
standalone retail version that comes out this week. The console versions
simply do not match up, in that they don't have most of the new content
that has arrived on the PC version, and lack the ability to take
advantage of the excellent community-generated content.
Spy sappin' mah sentry!
The game is very well
balanced with 9 classes with unique abilities and weaknesses. Valve
continues to update and add more maps all the time. The animation and
voice over work will have you chuckling as you intensely battle for
intelligence and capture points. Be aware that this game is only for
online play, and has no single player. So good luck and have fun.
Fun fun FUN!
Don't listen to negative
reviews. I've been playing games for over a decade (including online),
and this is the most fun I've had in a long time. I've also played on
many servers, and I'm yet to find those "abusive players", "glitchy
content" or "poor support from Valve" that was mentioned by one
reviewer. Don't know what they're talking about. This game is clean,
smooth, fun, hacker-free (hackers get banned permanently),
well-balanced, funny, easy on the eye, and players are for the most part
friendly and cool. If you like online shooters, this is a must-get!
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